The Percheron stallion, Valley Vista Knightime, foaled March 30th, 1981. He was by Lucasia Sir William, the popular Canadian-bred son of Justamere Showtime. He was out of the mare C. La Van's Starbaby, a mare whose pedigree requires somewhat of a deep dive into the Percheron history books in order to fully appreciate it. Following her lineage for just a few generations will get you to foundational breeding stock such as La Don, Don Again, Drake's Farms Chief, Enchanter and the great Koncarcalyps. Valley Vista Knightime traded hands a few times after he was born before ending up at Soder Farms, where was exhibited to World Champion Stallion at the 1986 World Percheron Congress under Judge Wayne Light. He was later sold to Roddy and Salley Moore of Ferrum, VA where he remained until his death. At their Virginia based Storey Creek Farm, Knightime sired numerous offspring that found their way to the show ring. Perhaps his most successful offspring was a stallion from his third foal crop, Northwood's Midnight Sun, and the All American mare Southern Cross Delight, who was out of the winning Westbrook bred mare, Buckeye Ambassador's Reba. Midnight Sun would stay in Wisconsin his entire life, but move on from Soder Farms to Glenview Percherons, where he sired a long list of offspring; with one of his most successful show daughters being the mare, Glenview Rain.
Interestingly, it is by way of two of Knightime's offspring, both of which had less prolific show careers, that his influence is perhaps most widely distributed across the Percheron bred. The Knightime daughter and Beth Burger bred mare named Flash In The Knight, (a maternal granddaughter of the Burger's foundation mare Koncarnona Misty), became an important spoke in the wheel of the modern Percheron industry. Flash In The Knight's daughter by Dreamtime's Silverado, simply named Yasmine, became a prolific broodmare for the Burger Family. Yasmine produced the 2006 World Champion Gelding, BP Platinum (by Windermere King Cong); the 2008 Res. Jr. World Champion mare, BP Beyonce (by Windermere King Cong); the popular and proven hitch horse sire, BP Prestige (by Windermere King Cong); and the 2014 Junior World Champion Stallion, Anderson's Bentley (by Windermere's North American Maid). Yasmine's breeding sons have placed her onto many pedigree papers in recent years, and she carries Knightime's bloodline with her.
The second offspring of Knightime to quietly, but assuredly, have influence in the breed was the stallion Levi's Knightime, owned and utilized by Robert Sell of North Carolina. The Levi's Knightime daughter, Rolling Hills Symphony, was bred to Daleview Luther for her first foal, and produced the mare Rolling Hills Shania. Shania would be sold through the Buckeye Draft Colt Sale in Dover, Ohio as a 3 year old, for a sum of $17,000; which was at that time an auction record for that sale. Shania's new owner, Emery Stutzman, took her to the stallion Chevron several times over, and then in 2006, the colt that she foaled would be named Briar Hill Trademark. Trademark has since enjoyed a successful career on the tanbark and in the breeding barn, earning multiple All American accolades and National Champion Stallion status, and he has sired numerous All American offspring, as well. Most recently, two of his sons were crowned World Champions at the 2018 World Percheron Congress in Des Moines, Iowa- R.R.A.'s Connie's Tradition (World Ch. Gelding) and Rossland Riley (World Ch. Stallion). The story of Valley Vista Knightime and his descendants is ongoing, and his influence on the Percheron breed is certainly here to stay.